


The Stranger at the Bus Stop

by Iliketalkingtoyou



Category: My Mad Fat Diary
Genre: Fluff, I AM SORRY, One Shot, prince gets slagged off
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-13 02:55:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12974280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iliketalkingtoyou/pseuds/Iliketalkingtoyou
Summary: Rae gets set up on a blind date





	The Stranger at the Bus Stop

“D’you want to share?”

“What?”

“I said, do you want to share?” This time Rae raised the umbrella slightly, and used her free hand to gesture at it. “Don’t want you getting soaked, is all.”

“Oh, yeah. Thanks.” The stranger stepped underneath the thin plastic and shared a small smile with her. He settled beside her at a relatively respectable distance, although his arm still brushed against hers.

Rae quietly took a deep breath and let it out slowly, there was nothing to do now but stand in the rain and wait for the bus, so she was going to take this time to calm her nerves. She had been having a bit of a manic day, constantly on her feet at work, running around delivering coffees, faxing and re-faxing, writing and re-writing, printing and re-printing, calling and re-calling - there was a lot of “re” in Rae’s job at the local Herald - probably some twisted parallel to her life in general. The whole day had been exhausting, feeling as if she was always doing something but never achieving anything. When she had eventually come home, Chloe had burst in and started tearing Rae’s room apart in search for the “perfect skirt length – sexy but not slutty, sophisticated but not boring”. Just being able to leave the flat was almost impossible, Rae had barely managed to get out the door when Chloe had reappeared to slap on some lipstick, shove an umbrella in Rae’s hands and part with a last “good luck”.

Chloe and Rae had moved back to Stamford together after squandering all of their money trying to make it work in London. After a few disastrous jobs (Rae) and some pretty awful boyfriends (Chloe) they decided to come back home in the hope that being closer to family would mean there was less chance either of them would end up bankrupt. It was tough spending so much time with someone so utterly annoying and perfect but Rae hated to admit that she really did love sharing a flat with Chloe – fashion obsessed and all, she was still Rae’s best mate and that was all that mattered.

Unfortunately, due to their awful financial situation neither Chloe nor Rae had a car. They couldn’t afford one or rather they couldn’t afford the insurance. And so it was that Rae had to take the bus to her impending death.

DATE!

Date! She meant date. Well…death or date, to-mae-toe, to-mah-toe. It was all the same to Rae, really. She would almost definitely die of embarrassment at some point. The minute the bloke, whoever he may be, walks through the door and sees her sitting there he’s going to run a mile. Chloe had told her she was being ridiculous, that she looked hot, and that her legs were "to die for”, but Rae knew the reality and there was nothing for her to do but wait for the inevitable.

The wind blew a little harder and the person standing next to her started shivering. He kept brushing her arm every time he tried to shove his hands deeper into his pockets. “Have you been waiting long for the bus?” She asked. A part of her hoped he had been, the bus would be somewhere nearby if that was the case.

The stranger kept his face forward, not looking at her. “Uh – no. Not too long. I-uh-probably just should have worn a thicker jacket.” He said with a small laugh.

“Yeah, maybe.” She agreed, smiling. “I didn’t really have a choice, my roommate took one look at the rain and tried to smother me in scarves.”

He smiled a little and shuffled on his feet. “That’s good though, right? Someone looking out for you?” He looked up at her for the first time.

She smiled a little and fixated on a spot across the street, “Yeah. She’s great, just a bit pedantic about stuff like that.” The conversation seemed finished, it felt as if they had completed the ‘small talk quota for strangers’ level and as a prize got to spend the remaining time in awkward but bearable silence.

“So…where ya off to?” The stranger interrupted, as he looked down at his feet. He clearly didn’t get the memo about inconsequential conversation with someone you didn’t know.“Somewhere nice?”

On an impulse Rae rolled her eyes. “Not exactly. I’m supposed to be meeting someone at this restaurant and I know it’s a really nice place… but… I don’t know– I mean. Anyway, where you off to?”

He shrugged at her. “I’m meeting someone too. Supposed to be at this shitty French place.”

“Pierre’s?” She asked, wide eyed.

He gave her a sceptical look, “Yeah. Just passed The Colonial?”

She nodded, face forward again. “Yeah. Yeah. I’m going to Pierre’s too…”

“Righ’,” he mumbled. “Well, I guess that makes sense. Waiting on the same bus and everythin’.”

She smiled a little, relaxing. “Yeah. Course.” He had told her first where he was going, so he couldn’t be making it up so he could to follow her or whatever. No point freaking out, he was probably going to meet his girlfriend there or something.

She was thinking of asking him who he was meeting when bright lights came down the street and the bus pulled up in front of them. There was a bit of a hassle trying to get the umbrella down while she stepped on the bus, and when she went to shake it she might have covered the stranger in water spray. She looked up apologetically but he smiled and let her on first – not that it would make much difference since apparently the whole of Stamford decided to be on this bus. She sighed, usually she much preferred staying downstairs in case of an emergency and she had to get off the bus quickly but she didn’t exactly have a choice and so she strode up the tiny stairway. There was one seat available tucked away in the back corner, a whole double seat.

She settled in nicely before a voice spoke from beside her, “Hi, sorry-” She jumped and turned, “Look, can I sit here? If we’re goin’ to the same place… I don’t really know what it looks like. I’ve never been-”

She smiled back at him and pressed herself against the window. “Sure.” There were a lot of people around them, and bright lights, she was in no danger here, even if he was a rampant sexpest.

There was a buzz of chatter around them, all of it blurred together into jibberish but it made their awkwardness stronger and far more obvious. “So you said you were meeting someone?” He asked, seemingly out of nowhere. He was probably feeling the tension as much as she was.

“Yeah! Sort of.” She scoffed, and mumbled to her hands. “I’m going on a blind date.”

“Wha’?” He sounded pretty surprised.

She rolled her eyes. Typical, even a total stranger would think she wasn’t good enough for a blind date. “Yeah, I know. It’s completely ridiculous.”

“I don’t think it’s ridiculous.” She looked him in the eyes, and he seemed pretty sincere. His earnestness was probably what opened up the floodgates.

“Well… an old friend of mine, Izzy…she just got back together with this guy, Chop- I know, stupid name. He’s twenty-five, for fucks sake…. So, Chop said that there’s this guy that I need to meet because we have loads in common or somethin’ and so they’ve set me - and this total stranger - up on a date…” She took the pause as a chance to watch his face but he was frowning at the person’s head in front of them. “I can’t even remember this guy’s name.” She mumbled looking in the same direction he was. “But I have it written down somewhere in my bag…” She went to get it but the stranger put out his hands to stop her.

“It’s –uh-Its fine. I don’t need to know his name…”

“Fuck. Yeah. Of course. I just-” She just got carried away because she needs someone else to listen to how absurd the situation was. Why did she agree to do this alone? Couldn’t Chloe and some guy have come with her? It could have been a double date. Oh fuck. She was panicking. And now this stranger thinks she’s crazy.

“It’s alrigh’.” He said, “I can tell you’re nervous, but I think it’ll be okay, you know.”

She blinked at him. “Do you?”

“Yeah.” He smiled. “The guy will think you’re great. I swear.”

She blushed, “I think he’ll run for the hills, but thanks.”

“I doubt it… but even if he does then you know there’s someone better out there, right?” He raised his eyebrows at her.

She smiled down at her hands. It was a nice thought, a lovely one even. Someone out there for her. She’d quite like that. Even if tonight did go tits up, there might be someone else out there. Rae shrugged, “Anyway, I’m babblin’ on. Turnin’ into ma mum. Are you meeting your girlfriend there? Wife even?”

“Uh no. No girlfriend, or uh …wife.” He muttered out and held out his left hand to prove his point.

“Right.” She said. Seemed strange that he would be going to a shitty restaurant if not for a date. Unless he was gay of course, he could always be meeting another bloke. Maybe she should tell Archie about him. 

She wasn’t sure how to continue talking to the stranger so she glanced out the window, and through the water droplets on the glass and the rain pouring down, she saw something even more cringe-worthy than her feeble attempts at conversation.

“God, is that a Prince t-shirt?” Some fat, old man - without even a jacket to cover himself from the rain - had the shit singer blazoned across his chest. She felt the stranger next to her lean over but the Prince fan was on the bus before he could see. “Who even likes Prince?” She snarled.

“Doesn’t everyone like Prince?” The stranger asked, looking at her confused.

Rae’s eyes widened. “Don’t tell me you like Prince.” She couldn’t do anything but stare at him in disbelief.

He grinned at her, “Nah, not really. Bit overrated. You don’t like him, then?”

She groaned, and rolled her eyes. “No, of-bloody-course not. He’s supposed to be this sort of ‘intellectual music’ but really it’s just shit.”

He laughed and nodded slightly, “You’re right. I remember someone said that they didn’t like his stuff and he told them somethin’ like ‘you’re just not smart enough to get it’.”

“I know! It’s like…how can you not be smart to understand music? It’s more than trying to be intelligent, it’s about… I don’t know…feeling, not thinking, right?” She wasn’t sure why she was telling a complete stranger this. Maybe it was the way he was looking at her, as if she meant something, as if he was actually listening to her for once rather than just baring being near her.

His smile faded as blinked at her. “Yeah, exactly.”

She relaxed and sat back against the window, she wasn’t quite sure when she had moved to sit closer to him, but her thigh was definitely pressing into his. The bus suddenly felt very warm. “Well, at least I know that there’s one other person on the planet with good music taste.” She grumbled to the window.

“Yeah, me too.”

Their little silence felt comfortable for once – until Rae blinked out the window and through the rain she saw the bright red, neon lights. “Shit, this is our stop.” They were off the bus a few seconds later, running to get under the shelter of the restaurant. They were giggling as they stepped through the glass door to the entryway.

“Great. I probably look a mess now. He’ll definitely run once he sees me.” She laughed, pulling at her clothes, trying to straighten them out.

The stranger grinned, “Nah, maybe he likes the weather beaten look.”

She faked scoffed, and laughed a little. Now that she was standing in the foyer, the urge to throw up was pretty huge. She looked through the second set of glass doors into the restaurant, there were plenty of people already inside, and what would they say if she was stood up? What would she do? Could she handle it? 

She was certain she could, it had been a long time since she was a teenager. She was stronger than she was. It would hurt but she’d pull through. Still there was this aching part that was sure that something terrible could happen. She could feel her heart at her throat, bashing against her windpipe. And …oh god, she was shaking and how did she normally breathe? Was it always as quick as this?

“Well, off you go…” The stranger said. She had almost forgotten he was there, but she turned back to him knowing that her face must portray her thoughts.

“I’m scared.” She whispered.

“Why?”

“What if he doesn’t like me?”

“Right, well. I-I know I just met you, but ya seem really great. There’s no doubt the guy will like you. It’ll be alrigh’.”

She nodded. “Yeah, it’ll be fine, even if he doesn’t like me. It’s just one date…” She took in a breath and made her decision: she was going in. She went to open the door but was stopped by a hand on her arm.

“But what if-?” He said, and she looked at the stranger confused. He pulled his arm off but took a step closer to her. “What if you don’t like him? What would you do if he found you amazin’ but you didn’t like him, not even a little bit?”

Rae gave him a baffled smile, “Uh. I think I’ll take what I can get,” she said with a small laugh.

“No. Seriously,” he shook his head, “What if he’s not what you’re expecting.”

Rae blew out an overly dramatic sigh, “Well, Chloe did tell me that they have a hell of a wine list here, so I would probably just get completely off my face, really.” She watched him relax before continuing. “But I don’t think that’ll happen. Izzy wouldn’t set me up with someone that awful. Maybe I could just convince him to get blind drunk with me?”

He laughed and nodded, “Yeah, sounds like a good night.”

“Yeah,” She laughed, “It really does.” She took a deep breath, “Right. I’m going in.” She went to open the door but turned back to face him. “Wait. Do I look okay? Is my hair really that bad after the rain?”

He smiled and tucked a stray piece behind her ear. “You look perfect.” With her heart hammering, she walked up to the waitress at the entrance podium and pulled out the piece of paper with her date’s information.

“Bon jour! Welcome to Pierre’s table for one?” The woman’s fake accent was atrocious but Rae was too nervous to laugh.

“Actually, I have a table book for half seven under…” Fuck, Izzy’s handwriting is a mess, “Neilson? Nelson? I think its Nelson. My name’s Rae, anyway, my friend said that it would be…”

“Oh yes, it’s here. This way.”

The waitress showed her to a table that was right in the middle of the fucking room. So say that, for example, Rae’s date was to show up, see her and run, everyone in the room would notice. Or say a date of hers would decide not to even bother coming to the restaurant, well, everyone in the god damn place would see.

She told herself to relax, she was over reacting. The guy would show up eventually. She was technically early anyway, it was only 7:29 and she was already sitting at the table, and her date was supposed to start at half past seven, so she shouldn’t be nervous. Why be nervous? The lovely stranger from the bus said she looked “perfect”. He used the word perfect! Even if he was a total stranger, it felt sincere. Or maybe she was just hoping it sounded sincere.

She checked her watch. 7:30. She looked up at the door, nothing.

7:31.

7:32.

7:33. The door swung open, a tall blonde boy walked through. Rae’s heart fluttered. Could it be? No, he was followed swiftly by a girl in a red dress. Okay.

7:34.

7:35. Rae’s thoughts strayed to the stranger from the bus. He had said he was meeting someone here as well but her darting eyes couldn’t spot him anywhere.

7:37. The bus stranger walked in…alone. She watched him speak to the obviously-not-French woman at the podium who pointed in…Rae’s direction?

He walked up to her relatively slowly, more of a nervous stroll than a walk. “Hiya.” He said, stepping beside her.

“Hi?” She smiled up at him. Her heart was banging against her chest, her head felt light. He knew something. He was all fidgety. Had he seen her date? Had her date really took one look at her and left and told the nearest bystander to let her know he was off?

He frowned down at the napkin in front of her, “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you on the bus. It’s just, you kept talkin’, and you were so nervous. I-I didn’t know how to tell you without scarin’ ya.”

“What?” She blurted out. Her brain felt like it was trying to walk through five feet of mud. She closed her eyes and almost considered counting to ten like she used to do as a teenager. Instead she put her hand over her face in embarrassment as the reality of her situation took its sweet time to hit her. “Oh…Fuck. You’re my date?” Fuck. How embarrassing. He had sat there listening to her rant about how she basically assumed he would leave her and how his friend had a stupid name. Bollocks.

“Is that…is it okay that I’m your date? I can leave-Chop’s not answerin’ his phone but I’m sure him, or Izzy, could pick you up, give you a lift home or something.” He looked about as nervous as she had been.

There were many things that Rae wanted to do in that moment. Run and hide with embarrassment would definitely be the top choice but the last thing she wanted was to watch this boy she had just met walk away from her.

She sighed and looked up at him. “Well,” She drawled, “I’ve had worse ways of meeting people.”

He choked out a laugh. “Me too, actually. Chop being one of ‘em.” She smiled and motioned to the chair in front of her but he hesitated.

She smiled,“How about as soon as you sit down we just start over? Sound good?” She suggested.

“Yeah.” He took a seat then stuck out his hand. “I’m Finn.”

“Rae,” she said, shaking his hand. She wasn’t quite sure when to pull away, she might have held on for a little longer than necessary.

Finn cleared his throat, “So, Rae…” he smirked, as he got comfortable in front of her, tugging himself closer.

“Yeah?”

“A friend of mine told me there’s a hell of a wine list here, d’you want to share?”


End file.
